New Heroes, Old Legends
by Dual Minded Wolf
Summary: DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue

So, I'm back, again, hopefully for good but that's only if life doesn't interfere. Anyway, I know that all of you _really _want to see the end of Forgotten Ones, but, to be honest, that story went so far out of control that I can't tell left from up in it and the amount of characters to keep track of is staggering. So, I made this in the hopes of satiating all of you. Basically it's a retelling of Forgotten Prophecy, but more refined (hopefully) and with several changes, mostly having to do with the removal of the other worlds for the moment and a few other things that you'll all probably catch onto. I hope you enjoy it!

_Disclaimer_: I, in no way shape or form, own any of the copyrighted things I use. I do, however, own my characters that appear in this story. (May or may not make a list when more are introduced)

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New Heroes, Old Legends

Prologue

A lone dragon limped through the slums of Warfang. After fending off several attackers, he was left in a terrible state, but no one thought of helping the young drake. Not that he'd want their help anyway. He told himself that he was perfectly content to walk unaided in the rain.

His scales were a dirtied silver, likely due to the muck and blood that covered him, while his underbelly was a midnight black. His four horns would have been like polished ivory if they were clean, one pair curling upward while the other pointed forward parallel to his jaw. His eyes were a tired brown, blood-shot and partially lidded as he began to stumble as he walked.

Finally succumbing to his injuries, he collapsed to the ground and landed in a puddle, causing a small splash. The dragon couldn't stop from gasping as he found breathing getting harder. His vision started getting blurry and he felt his usual defiance fading fast.

'_This is how it ends, huh?'_ he thought to himself resignedly, _'In a puddle in the slums. I guess an orphaned, weak, powerless dragon can't ask for much better.'_

Just as darkness started closing in, a black paw landed just in front of his eyes. He heard a voice, but it sounded so far away that he couldn't tell what it was saying. He felt himself being lifted before oblivion took him.

"...you want to help him, but we don't know a thing about him!" the dragon heard as he slipped back into consciousness, "We came here on business for the Temple, not to pick up strays!"

"I couldn't just leave him to die, Cyril!" a feminine voice said indignantly, "Besides, all of the Guardians are supposed to have at least one student they found themselves. I haven't found mine yet."

"Your Guardianship is still under CONSIDERATION," the male voice pointed out, not aggressively but as a simple statement of fact, "You and Spyro have done much for the Realms, no one would dare question either of your loyalties, but finding a replacement for Ignitus is pressing enough without adding two more Guardians."

"You've been saying that for almost twenty years, Cyril!" Cynder said pointedly as the young dragon opened his eyes to see who they were and where he was, "You're the only one who-"

She stopped herself as she noticed that he was awake and watching them. He knew that the names were familiar, and now he knew why; standing just a few feet from where he was were the Ice Guardian and ex-Terror of the Skies themselves.

Cynder looked much like how he'd heard she did, though most of the stories were from when she was younger and she'd grown considerably since then. Her green eyes regarded him with concern and surprise, neither of which he was sure he liked.

Cyril, on the other paw, had finally been caught by age and was starting to look it. A few of his scales were muted in color and his eyes had a wise, and proud, look to them. The young drake felt that he would hear why soon enough.

"You're awake," the black dragoness said happily, a warm smile on her lips, "Now, can you tell us-"

"I didn't ask for help," the drake interrupted bluntly, eyes narrowed, "I don't need it."

Cynder's eyes did the same as she took a step closer to him, her grin turning into a frown as she spoke again, "It didn't seem that way when you were dying in an ally. I didn't need you to ask before I kept you alive."

"I can take care of myself," he grumbled, looking away, "I have ever since I hatched on the streets and never needed help before. I still don't."

He tried to stand and get off the cushion he was on to prove his point, but his legs gave way under him and he sprawled to the floor in a heap. Both the Ice Guardian and the black dragoness went to help him, but he growled fiercely and they backed off.

He tried again and managed to stand, though his legs quivered as though there was an earthquake, and spoke almost challengingly, "See?"

"Your wounds have reopened," Cyril said calmly, and the young dragon noticed the blood dripping from his cracked scabs and leaving droplets of scarlet on the wooden floor.

"I'll be fine," the drake said through gritted teeth, "Where's the exit?"

"You'd be a fool to leave in your state!" Cynder said in disbelief, walking over to him, "I insist you stay, at least until your wounds are healed."

"No," he growled up at the dragoness that towered over him before limping around her and stumbling. He fell flat on his face and slipped back into unconsciousness.

"He...knocked himself out?" the Ice Guardian spoke, shocked, "He won't pass any of the trials if he's this weak, Cynder. Give up this foolishness of bringing him to the Temple, it's no place for a dragon like him."

"Don't lecture me, Cyril," the green-eyed drake told him coldly, picking up the comatose dragon like a mother cat would its child and placing him back on the cushion, "The Temple is dedicated to teaching the brightest minds of the new generation of dragons, and I know that this one is going to do great things there."

"You don't even know his name."

"Then I will ask him when he wakes up," Cynder said simply, curling up around the young dragon, "After all, we did put him in my bed."

Cyril was silent for a moment before he quietly spoke, his voice resigned, "This dragon will not replace your and Spyro's son. And neither will smothering your daughter."

"Don't, Cyril," she warned him, a blaze behind her eyes as she looked at the older dragon, "Just don't."


	2. Chapter 1

**After a while of keeping you all waiting, I've returned with the first chapter of…oh whatever, I'll just do the disclaimer and let you all go ahead and read it**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted things I use, I do however own my OCs and this story.**

_**X**_

Chapter 1

_A much younger version of the drake Cynder had found was struggling to crawl out of the alley he was in, and away from the group of teenage dragons laughing at him. A burly red one, obviously the leader, broke away from the others and slowly walked over to the injured youngling._

"_Where d'ya think you're goin', runt?" he questioned, stepping onto the silver's wing. He let out a scream of agony as the delicate bones snapped under the larger male's weight. The crimson continued, unbothered, "No one said we were done with you, yet."_

"_P-pl-please st-stop, Bero," the little drake begged, tears streaming down his face, "I di-didn't d-do any-anything!"_

"'_Didn't do anything'?" Bero mimicked his voice, grinding his paw on the silver's wing as his cronies laughed, "We saw you outside the window during class today; you know school isn't the place for street trash like you."_

"_I-" he was cut off when the older dragon fiercely kicked his side, causing him to be flung into the alley wall and fall into a heap on the ground. The cuts and scrapes covering his small frame oozed blood, his right eye swollen shut, and his left wing hung limp as the fragile bones were broken and dislocated._

"_No one said you could speak you pathetic waste of space!" the red drake growled, starting to walk over to where the youngling was cringing in fear and pain. However, one of Bero's own group, a large Earth dragon, intercepted him and blacked his path._

"_That's enough," he said, his voice gruff and cold, "No more."_

"_No, Quake, this whelp wants to learn?" the crimson said menacingly, getting in the face of the taller green, "I'll give him a lesson he won't-"_

"_What the hell's going on here?" an infuriated female voice shouted from the entrance of the alley._

"_Shit!" Bero swore, running down the other side of the alley and out into the streets with his group following suit, Quake included._

_The silver dragon was able to make out a blurry blue shape running toward him before his vision turned to black and he passed out._

_**X**_

The drake slowly awoke from the memory-dream, his thoughts muddled and confused. He was surrounded by warmth, which was strange because he didn't have a blanket…and _she'd _been dead for almost four years now. He also hadn't ever felt the ground be so soft and cushiony, either. Suddenly, the events of the previous day came back in a flash and his eyes shot wide open.

He was startled to see that Cynder had curled up around him protectively, as though he was her child. The thought struck a chord inside him that made his insides ache, but he quickly pushed it away and tried to get free without waking the slumbering dragoness. It was working until he tried to move his right hind leg; the sudden jolt of pain that shot through his body made him let out a yelp and fall onto the onyx's neck.

This, in turn, roused the sleeping Cynder who jerked up in surprise and sent the adolescent rolling to the floor. He flopped to the ground, his limbs sprawled, causing the dragoness to let out a laugh at the sight.

"Well," she chuckled, amused at his attempts to stand, "Looks like a night's rest isn't going to cut it for those wounds."

"Whatever," he scoffed, smirking at her, "You should've seen the other guys, they won't ever be the same again."

"If you're not cautious, neither will you," Cyril said, startling the other two with his sudden appearance.

Recovering quickly, the silver drake retorted, "I've had worse and been fine. I said it before and I'll say it again, I didn't need help."

The Ice Guardian opened his mouth to say something, but Cynder spoke first, "What's your name?"

The younger dragon eyed her for a moment, as if debating if she was worth telling, before he spoke, "It's Aesir."

"That's…a rather unique name," Cyril commented.

Aesir turned to glare at him and spoke coldly, "I grew up in rather unique circumstances."

This stunned the older dragon into speechlessness, which the black dragoness used to her advantage, "How old are you, Aesir?"

He looked back to her, eyes narrowed in suspicion, and responded bluntly, "Probably sixteen, maybe seventeen."

"You don't know?"

"I'm sorry, next time I grow up on the streets I'll make sure to always keep a calendar," he shot back sarcastically, snorting in annoyance.

Ignoring his rudeness, Cynder continued, "Did you ever have any schooling?"

Aesir looked at her distrustfully as he answered, "Depends on what you mean by 'schooling'. Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"Can't I be curious about the one I rescued?" the onyx queried, feigning hurt. He simply scowled at her as he got himself into a sitting position.

"She's trying to determine how difficult it would be for you to adjust to living and receiving an education at the Temple," Cyril explained, irritated both because of Cynder's antics and being struck speechless by the silver.

"Wh-what?" Aesir said, his tone one of disbelief as his mask of cynicism cracked a little. He looked back and forth between the ex-Terror of the Skies and the Ice Guardian, eyes wide in shock.

"Each Guardian is allowed to bring a student to the Temple to be tutored by them personally, as well as attend the normal classes that are provided to them," she told him calmly, gauging his reaction, "I have yet to choose mine and, should you pass the entrance exams, I'd like to take you in as my pupil."

The young drake was silent for a while as he felt his true self coming out before he quietly said, "Why me? What do you know about me that tells you that I belong at the Temple with all those other dragons?"

"The Dragon Temple is dedicated to the training and tutelage of the next generation of dragonkind," Cynder said, watching him carefully, "I believe you're capable of being one of the greatest, and attending the school will push you in the right direction."

"You really think that?" he asked, looking up.

"I know it," she told him, smiling warmly.

"Okay," he said, returning it with the first real grin he had in a very long time, "I'll give it a shot."

"I'm glad, but first," she said, chuckling a bit, "we need to get you fixed up so you can get cleaned up. Can you go grab the bag of red gems, Cyril?"

The elder dragon sighed and nodded, padding off as Aesir gave her a confused look , "Cleaned up? What for?"

"You don't want to walk around covered in grime, do you?" she said and he gave her a sheepish grin, "However, the main reason is that we are attending a hatchday party for the potential Fire Guardian."

"Oh," he said, understanding, just as the Ice Guardian returned with the small leather bag clutched in his teeth. He brought it over to them and placed it on the ground next to them. The dragoness didn't waste any time untying it and pulled out a few of the gems inside. Aesir looked at the red gems to the one he had been so rude to just moments ago, unsure of how to react.

"Well, go on," she told him, smiling kindly. He nodded dumbly and picked them up, crushing them in his paw. He felt his wounds begin to heal almost instantly, the pain in his leg subsiding as his body absorbed the magical properties of the gems. He let out a sigh of relief as even some of the minor aches he'd dealt with for weeks faded, too.

"Thank you," he said softly, his eyes to the floor. He had to fight from cringing at the thought of the fierce scolding _she _would've given him if she were here to see how he'd been acting toward tow of the most well-known figures to dragonkind after they'd saved his life.

"You're welcome," she told him, grinning, "Now go get washed up; the bathroom's through the door on your left."

He nodded in acknowledgement before standing and walking to the specified room. Once he was inside and the two older dragons heard the water running, the Ice Guardian spoke.

"You are aware of what you're risking for this one, are you not?" Cyril said, sitting, "And the disappointments you'll both face should he not pass the entrance exam?"

"I understand, Cyril, but I don't have any fear of him not succeeding," Cynder said calmly, "I have faith that he'll accomplish great things."

"He's brash, rude, and-" the frost dragon started to say.

"And underneath he's a child struggling to protect himself from both physical and emotional pain," she cut him off sharply, "but despite whatever caused him to be this way, he still wants to find people he can call friends, to know that there are ones out there that care for him. At the Temple he will find plenty, and he will become one of the greatest students to walk the halls."

"You sound like Ignitus did when he spoke of Spyro, and of you," he told her quietly, "Even while you were under the Dark Master's control; he never stopped believing you could be saved. A part of me still wonders if he saw all of it in the Pool of Visions, from Spyro saving you to both of you defeating the Dark Master together."

"There are some things we aren't meant to know, Cyril," the black dragoness said and he nodded in agreement.

_**X**_

**There ya go, a glimpse of the past and whatever. And the name of the dragon…Aesir. However, I've been reworking the storyline in my head, while this won't be a _complete _retelling of Forgotten Prophecy, several characters from that and Forgotten Ones will be returning, revamped and re-characterized. The first one to guess the character that saved Aesir in his little flashback-dream might, just _might_, get to place in an OC of their own that _may _become part of the main group. No promises on that, but if I do you have to let me choose how they fit in, how they act under certain situations, etc. You have until I post Chapter 3!**


	3. Chapter 2

Hey all, I hope I haven't lost my readers because that will make me more sad than I already am. A lot has happened since my last update, from my grandmother passing away on the 5th of September to my desktop completely crashing and I had to wait a bit before I could even type this because my laptop didn't have word. Anyway, I'm going to stop boring those of you who are reading this with my problems and let you read.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted things I use, I do own my OCs and this story.

X

Chapter 2

"Annie, I'm telling you this is a terrible idea," the ice dragon told his companion, a pale blue dragoness. She was slim and quite attractive to many of the students at the temple, with two pairs of yellowish-gold horns, a violet underbelly and an arrow-like tip on her tail the same color as her horns.

"Don't be such a wet blanket, Azure," the female responded calmly, continuing on down the hallway, "Think of all the treasures we'll find in that secret room!"

"Or all of the lethal traps meant to keep out intruders and would-be treasure hunter students," he pointed out with a snort, keeping an eye out for teachers and guards roaming the school to make sure students were obeying curfew. Annie glanced over her shoulder to give her friend a dubious look and rolled her eyes.

As his name implied, Azure had dark blue scales and a light blue underbelly and wing membranes. His horns curled like that of a ram's and were crystalline in appearance, almost as if they were made of ice. He had navy-blue icicle-like growths on his shoulders and tail tip. He was well-muscled and desired by many of the dragonesses at the temple, as well as envied by the males.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Az?" she asked him, turning her gaze back to the way the two of them were walking.

"In bed, sleeping," he answered with a yawn, "Like we should be. C'mon Annie, let's head back before someone catches us!"

"But we're already here," she said excitedly, coming to a halt in front of a seemingly walled up archway. The stones barricading the way were scratched and chipped in places, yet seemed as sturdy and immovably solid.

"Are you sure this even _is _a hidden chamber?" Azure questioned doubtfully, sitting down on his haunches while she got a bit closer.

"I told you I swiped a scroll from Volteer's study while he was rambling during one of the private lectures," Annie said shortly, feeling the wall for anything that seemed out of place, "It was full of information on secret passages and concealed rooms all over the Temple. This is on of very few that hasn't been opened, and the only one that isn't in a hard-to-reach place."

"Did it occur to you that there might be a _reason_ it's unopened?" he asked dubiously as he listened for anyone coming.

"Or the Guardians have been too busy to explore it," she countered as one of her claws brushed against a stone that had a strange sigil on it that she didn't notice and it sank into the wall before she could see it, "Oh, I think I did it!"

The two young dragons watched in awe as the stones moved and shifted until there was a large enough hole for most full-grown dragons to pass through. Annie looked back at the male triumphantly, while he simply let out a snort and they entered the now-open archway.

Inside, it was almost pitch-dark until Annie lit the lines of torches on both sides of the long corridor with separate streams of bluish flames. Azure looked at his friend in shock at the sight.

"Since when could you breathe fire?" he questioned, stunned, as they continued down the hallway. Neither noticed the stones return to their original spots behind them, becoming a wall that blocked the entrance and exit once more.

"I've only been able to do it for a week or two," she admitted, keeping her face forward as she refused to look at her friend, "That means the only one of the Base Elements that I haven't unlocked now is Earth."

"Have you told them yet?" he asked seriously, watching as she lit the next series of torches with relative ease.

"And give my parents another reason to smother me with pointless rules and fill already small free-time with even more boring lectures with the other Guardians? Thanks, but no thanks," she scoffed sarcastically, shaking her head, "It's bad enough they know I can use both Ice and Electricity, I don't need them and everyone else thinking I'm another Purple Dragon, too."

"But at this rate it's obvious you are, Annabelle!" Azure pointed out, looking over at her. For a moment the male dragon saw his friend's blue scales replaced with purple, while her underbelly was a brilliant shade of gold like her horns. He blinked and the image faded, her appearance changing back to normal.

"But it doesn't make sense!" she blurted out, exasperated, "Every piece of legend and history says that Purple Dragons are only born once every ten generations, and they're supposed to be _Purple_! It's in the name! So why can I use so many of the Elements!"

"I don't know, Annie," he answered honestly, comfortingly, "The only ones who might be able to answer that question are your parents and the other Guardians, but you have to _tell them_."

"I'll…think about, okay?" she relented, spitting out another jet of flame that lit a line of torches that spread and revealed a huge room full to the walls of all kinds of treasure that was covered in a bit of dust with a cobweb or two scattered throughout.

"Whoa…" they both breathed, looking around in awe at the horde of valuables they'd discovered. Walking down the short flight of steps, they began to wander aimlessly through the stacks of wealth, occasionally stopping to examine a piece that caught one of their eyes and place it in the bag Azure carried.

Eventually they found their way to the center of the large chamber where they found two tomes on separate ornate pedestals made of what looked like white gold. As they got closer to the books they noticed something strange, however.

"There isn't a speck of dust anywhere near them," the male said with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.

"They must be enchanted, or something," Annie said as Azure took a few steps closer to get a better look at them.

"But what's in them that makes them important enough to be put in a secret room full of treasure in the Dragon Temple?" he wondered aloud, coming to a stop just in front of the pedestals.

"I don't know, but if you want to find out then grab 'em and we'll get a few more things then we'll get out and come back with the others tomorrow night," Annie told him, grabbing a gold ring off the ground and cleaning it a bit before twisting it onto her right horn.

"Yeah," he said, nodding, before removing the tomes from their pedestals cautiously and placing them into his bag carefully. He half-expected some ancient booby-trap to have activated once he had taken them, but as far as he could tell there was none to be seen. However, when he turned around he found he as mistaken.

Glowing, ethereal dragons were rising out of the ground one by one, surrounding the young drake and Annie until their backs were to the pedestals. Each of the strange apparitions had a different color shade and markings to them, seemingly dividing them into their various Elements. It took Azure a moment to realize that there were only eight, which meant they represented the Base and Secondary, or Dark as some people still thought, Elements.

'_You have removed the texts from where the last of the Aether Dragons placed them,' _eight separate voices spoke in unison inside the two young students' heads, causing them to cringe, _'You have now opened your world further to the war that we Embodiments fight. Your destruction or-'_

The voices were cut off as a ninth ethereal dragon rose from the earth. This one's appearance was that of a graceful female with silverish-colored scales and a dark grey underbelly. Her wings were feathered, like that of a bird, and were the same color as her scales, but there were strange archaic symbols on the backs of them. Her tail was completely devoid of any weapon tip, and her eyes were blue without any whites or pupils.

"Do not scare the children, brothers and sisters," she said aloud, her voice as refreshing as a Spring breeze, "Do not drag them into your bickering."

"Sister, have you come simply to interfere or have you finally chosen a side?" the crimson one with markings of flames across his body questioned, his words seeming to scorch and heat the atmosphere.

"I have chosen nothing, Brother, because both sides are wrong on what must be done," the silver female responded, her eyes narrowing, "Neither side understands, and the more you fight over this, the less likely it is that you ever will and we might as well hand this Realm to the Dark One on a silver platter. Like infants, you are ignorant of the world."

"You dare to claim that we are nothing more than children?" the blood-red female with white markings on her face that made her appear skeletal.

"I do not claim, now begone! Go back to the Realm Between and continue your foolish dispute there," she told them before the other ethereal dragons dissipated as if they were smoke blown away by the wind. Once they were all completely gone, she turned to face the two terrified drakes. Speaking softly and gently, she asked them, "Are you alright, younglings?"

"Y-yeah," they answered shakily, glancing at each other.

"I am glad," she said, cracking a small smile, "My siblings have become more and more foolish as of late and I had feared that they might have harmed you."

"Who…what are you?" Azure asked cautiously, trying to size up the ethereal silver in front of him.

"I am commonly referred to as Aethrea, or I was when my siblings and I walked more often upon this Realm," she responded calmly, her voice soothing and seemed to make the two drowsy, "I and my siblings and their children are the Embodiments of the many Elements found throughout the Realms. Unfortunately, when the two of you awaken you will believe this night's events were nothing but a strange dream the two of you shared."

"Wha-?" Annie slurred sleepily, her eyelids drooping as the prospect of slumber grew more and more appealing.

"I am sorry, but the one thing my family agrees on is that current events have made it very important that we remain as little known and as unnoticed as possible for now," the female told them regretfully as the two students passed out. Walking over to them, she whispered, "but I fear even this rule may not last much longer. The tomes will help you keep many safe, but only one can truly save everyone…"

Her eyes turned the same silver as her scales instantly and a glow surrounded the two young dragons. She unfurled her feathered wings and flapped them, causing the pair to vanish and making all of the torches go out in an instant as she dissipated in the same fashion as her siblings.

X

Aesir looked himself over in the reflective walls that covered the outside of the mansion he and the two older dragons he accompanied stood at the door of. Once again he found he could barely recognize himself being so…_clean_. As far as he could remember, his scales had always been a dull grey while his horns had been a very dirty off-white, but now his scales were a reflective silver and his four horns shone like polished ivory. Despite his now almost-regal-looking appearance, he still felt small and out of place in the upper-class district of Warfang, making him antsy and ready to snap.

Noticing how tense he was, Cynder said kindly, "Relax, you aren't going to be the only young dragon here. Plenty of the guests brought their children. No one is telling you that you have to talk to anyone, however."

Aesir nodded in understanding, thankful for the dragoness's words, but noticed her eyes lingering on the various now-visible scars that covered his body. In his own opinion, the worst of them was a jagged one that went from the base of his neck to the tip of his tail. He'd gotten it when Bero had his cronies hold him down while the crimson dragged one of his claws down his side. He'd only been about four or five at the time and to this day he didn't know how he survived losing so much blood.

His train of thought was interrupted when the door swung open, revealing a large Earth dragon. He was a dark shade of green with his underbelly, wing membranes, and horns the color of stone. His stance and various battle-scars, including a large trio of scratches going down his face and across one his grass green eyes and had turned it a misty and sightless blue, showed he was an old warrior and Aesir couldn't help but wonder what this dragon had experienced.

"Greetings, Tremor," Cyril said to the drake, his tone friendly, "We've come to congratulate your daughter on her twentieth hatchday and to conduct one more test to make our final decision on naming her the new Fire Guardian."

"Very well, as long as the test waits until after the party dies down," he said calmly, his one seeing eye looking at the Ice Guardian, "She may no longer be considered a child, but I don't want her trying to show off to her friends and making herself look like one."

"We understand," Cynder responded, her green eyes reflecting a serious and serene expression, "May we enter?"

"First, I'd like to know," Tremor said, turning his head to look at the silver, "Who is this youngling that accompanies you? He certainly seems like he's seen more than his share of battles for one so young, and has nearly as many scars as I do."

Feeling the training he'd been given kicking in, Aesir's slightly troubled expression changing into his mask of fierce confidence as he said, "My name is Aesir, and the scars I bear come from learning how to survive in the slums of this city. Cynder gave me a chance to get out and attend school at the Temple, and I accepted. See me as anything less than an equal and I'll demonstrate some of the lessons I've learned without any hesitation."

All three of the older dragons were struck speechless by the silver's words. Cyril was appalled by the open threat the drake had delivered, while Cynder was shocked by his sudden return to his old demeanor. No one spoke until Tremor broke into a deep, hearty laugh.

"Spoken like a true warrior," the Earth dragon chuckled, nodding his head in respect to the younger drake, "It is good to see another dragon from the streets going on to make a difference. My brother and I were the same, I became a general in the fight against the Dark Master's original attempt to destroy the world while my brother took the place of Master Quake as the Earth Guardian after Quake had been killed during one of the earlier skirmishes."

"Indeed, and despite being the youngest Guardian and general in the written history of the dragon race, the two of you rallied the most people to the cause to raid the Dark Master's fortress and allowed us to overwhelm his defenses long enough for us to seal him away in Convexity," Cyril added, recovering from his shock when he realized that Tremor wasn't offended, "However, Terrador didn't seek the position of Head Guardian and you stepped down from your position and left to protect Shattered Vale just before the raid on the Temple when almost all the eggs were lost besides Cynder's and Spyro's. It's only since Ignitus died that he has taken up the mantle of Head Guardian, albeit reluctantly as even Volteer and I agreed that he would perform better than either of us."

"And while my brother is the leader of the leaders of the dragon race, I raise my family, something my brother seems incapable of keeping together," Tremor stated with a slight chortle as he moved to the side to let them through, "But come in, come in! Everyone will want to see you all!"

X

And there's chapter two, introducing a few more characters, some old and some new. Well, only one old character, really, though she's had a bit of a revamp and is older than her original incarnation in the Forgotten Saga. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write as this one did, but if it does it gives everyone more of a chance to figure out who the mysterious dragoness in Aesir's memory is. Remember, first one to get it right gets to have one of their OCs as part of the main group!

This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother, who constantly placed others before herself and introduced my family's annual to biannual trips to Disney World in Orlando, Florida to us. I will miss her greatly, but I'm glad she's no longer in pain. Rest in peace, grandma…


	4. Chapter 3

**So, yeah, since I haven't gotten ANY reviews since the last update I'm extending the deadline til the next chapter and giving more info on the 'mysterious dragoness' that saved Aesir when he was younger. One or two things have been added to her appearance, but the more blaringly obvious ones as to who she is are still there. So c'mon everyone who're just reading, toss me a review and a guess!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted things I use, I do however own my OCs and this story.**

X

Chapter 3

Azure groaned as he started to wake from his slumber, feeling as though he'd slept on a bed of rocks that his rather soft and plush one. He blinked his eyes open to adjust to the bright sunlight coming in through his open window. As his slowly-awakening mind became more and more aware, he felt like he was missing something blaringly obvious. He couldn't put his claw on what it was until it hit him like a slap to the face.

"I slept in!" he shouted aloud to himself, panicked, "Damn it, I'm late for my classes!"

He leaped out of his bed, only for his legs to get caught on the strap of the bag he hadn't noticed he was carrying. This cut his jump short and made him fall flat onto his face and sent the contents of the bag flying all about the room. Various pieces of jewelry, from rings to amulets to bracers, as well as a few gems fell out, followed by a pair of large tomes that only slid a few feet before stopping.

"Ow," he groaned, rolling onto his side. This put his gaze directly onto one of the books that had been inside the bag, this one colored a myriad of reflective colors while the other was a silverish-grey. Curious, he got to his paws and walked over to it, saying, "I don't remember having this…"

Intrigued, and a little bit cautious, the blue dragon gingerly opened the strange book's cover. He glanced at the first page and was confused and little bit disappointed. On it was a diagram of the many elements, not unlike the ones Volteer drew in Dragon History class, but this one had been done in silver ink. There were three circles, one inside the other, which was different than ones he usually saw that only had two. The outer-most circle had the main eight elements, not that surprising, each one represented by the symbol of the element. The middle one only had two, a sun for Light and a crescent moon for Darkness. However, it was the inner-most circle that drew his attention the most. He rarely ever saw the third circle shown due to the rarity of the elements found in it, but unlike the two that he normally saw, an hourglass for Time and a strange spiral for Space, there was a third that he didn't recognize. It completely baffled him as to what it could possibly be because the ink constantly shifted into a different element on the diagram without any sort of pattern to it.

He carefully placed a claw onto the unknown element, and the pages of the book suddenly turned rapidly. Startled, Azure jerked himself away from the tome and fell backward while an impossible number of pages kept turning. Finally, after almost a full minute, it stopped, but it was only on the **second page**. As if it had only flipped a single page instead of hundreds or thousands more.

"This is getting weirder and weirder…" he said under his breath, warily getting closer to the obviously-enchanted book. When he was close enough to make out the runes on the pages, he began trying to read them. It didn't take him long to realize, "I've never seen anything like these runes! What the hell is going on!"

Suddenly a repetitive knocking started on the door to his room, but the voice that followed it was what snapped him back to reality, "Az, you lazy drake, you were supposed to wake me up this morning! Now we're both late and we've missed our first class, idiot!"

"Oh, shit!" the blue dragon shouted, scrambling to gather his class materials into his bag, accidentally grabbing both of the strange tomes and knocking a few pieces of jewelry inside in his haste, "I'll be out in just a sec, Annie!"

"You better be!" she shouted, obviously irritated, her voice sounding as though her nose was clogged up. As he grabbed the last of his notes, thoughts raced through his head like apes on fire. Why had he slept in? He never slept in! How had he forgotten that Annie had asked him to wake her up because her father had to leave to get his lesson plan ready early today and her mother wasn't expected back for another few days? And why couldn't he remember anything that happened last night? Did those strange books have something to do with it?

"Hurry up! We've already missed Dragon History and now we're late for Advanced Combat!" Annie shouted angrily, once again sounding stuffed up as she banged on the door. Snapping out of his train of thought, Azure finished putting the notes in his bag and hurried over to the door, opening it only to find a very irate, ill-looking Annie on the other side. Her green eyes were bloodshot and her face seemed mildly swollen. Her face was full of irritation, but she still seemed almost lethargic.

"Whoa, you look terrible, Annie," Azure stated after seeing her, concern in his voice, "You look worse than when we found out that you're allergic to the Sleep Element."

"Thanks for the compliment," she said sarcastically, her voice a little odd from her nose being congest, but still managed to hit his foreleg hard enough for him to let out an outburst of pain. Afterwards, she added, "And I still say that exchange student overreacted."

"You called the prince of a foreign nation a, and I quote, 'sexist coward' because he refused to spar with you because you're a girl," the blue male grumbled, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him, "and proceeded to challenge his honor, rather rudely I might add, in _public_. I think it was rather justified for him to put you to sleep for an hour after that, regardless of your allergies."

"Yeah, yeah, my Dad has to fill in for Terrador because he's swamped with work trying to get things set up to welcome the new Fire Guardian as well as teach his own Basic Combat classes, so I'd rather not be any more late," she said before quickly heading in the direction of the large training room that was located a ways away from the boys' dorms.

"Annie, wait up!" Azure called after her, hurrying to catch up. In his haste, he was unaware of the dim glow that came from his bag for a few moments before it faded. Neither of the drakes noticed the gold ring twisted onto Annie's horn, either.

X

Aesir found himself avoiding contact with any of the other guests at the party. As much as he felt like he should at least _try_ to interact with _someone_¸ he only spoke a handful of words to anyone that started a conversation with him before he simply moved away from the large groups in the room and headed deeper into the mansion. He wandered through the halls as the noise of the party gradually faded into nothing. After a while, however, he noticed something incredible.

It was an impossibly-huge library full of incredibly large bookshelves loaded with more books than Aesir could've ever imagined even _existed_. He slowly walked through one of the many archways that led into the library to find it was even _larger_ than he'd first thought. You would've been able to fit at least four or five families of dragons in here and they wouldn't cross into each other's area without going out of their way to do it. He came to a halt in front of a glass case. It was a rather old-looking book that had at one point been the color of his scales at one point, but had long-since lost its luster.

As he started to try to decipher the runes on the cover, a feminine voice from beside him said calmly, "That book's one of my favorites; it's one of only two yet discovered tomes that talks about the ancient Aether Dragons and leads up to their rather sudden extinction. It's in their written dialect because, well, one of them wrote it. It was a pain to translate, but oh so worth it."

Startled, Aesir jumped to the side and fell into a fighting stance as he sized up the newcomer. As her voice had revealed, she was a she and was just smaller than a normal adult dragoness, which meant that she was more than twice his size. Her scales were a dark-orange color, as were her wing membranes, but her underbelly was a stone-grey. She had two pairs of very light-yellow horns, the top pair curling like ram's horns while the bottom pair curved like small boar's tusks only in reverse. She also had a strange red mark in the shape of a flame going over one of the grass-green eyes that looked at him curiously.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the silver said aggressively, baring his teeth.

"Easy, tough guy, I come in peace," she said soothingly, raising one of her forepaws as a sign of peace, "A couple of my friends told me about a silver dragon covered in scars that came with Cyril and Cynder, but he'd wandered away from the party after avoiding pretty much everyone that tried to talk to him. I'm guessing that's you?"

"And if I said I was?" he said warily, slowly relaxing out of his fighting stance and sitting down on his haunches.

"Well, I'd like to get to know you, after all we'll be seeing a lot of each other at the Temple," she said, smiling as she sat down as well.

"Are you a new student, too?" he asked inquisitively, but his tone and expression were more skeptical.

She seemed unbothered by this, though, and responded, "In a way, I guess I am. After I pass the last test today, I officially start my training to become a Guardian. I'll even start teaching to help take some of the burden off my uncle's shoulders!"

"_You're _Tremor's daughter?" Aesir asked, surprised as he have the dragoness another glance to size her up with the new information, "This is _your_ hatch-day party?"

"Yup, my name's Pyra, and you're Aesir, right?" she said, laying down so the two of them were at eye level. After he nodded, she continued, "Cyril and Cynder told most of the guests who you were, but they avoided any questions about your past. Why?"

The silver looked Pyra up and down, noting how her expression changed from happy to concerned and how her eyes never looked away from him. She wanted to know about his past for the same reason Cynder hadn't let him die in that puddle and offered to bring him to the Dragon Temple; the dragonesses both genuinely cared. Once again, the young drake felt a pang of sorrow and regret in his heart, but again pushed it to the side.

"They only know a little about my past, and not all of what I told them was the truth," he admitted, looking away from her, "I'd like my past to remain out of public knowledge, it's…there are things that I've seen and done that I'd rather keep to myself."

"How about this, I tell you something about me that isn't something I usually tell people, then you do the same with whatever you feel like sharing that I don't know, okay?" she offered, smiling a bit, "It can be your gift to me, and everything will stay between us."

After a moment of hesitation, Aesir turned back to look at Pyra and saw _her _in place of the fire dragoness laying in front of him. Her gentle amber eyes that became like a storm when the two of them were threatened, her kind smile that she saved only for him, her blue scales and slender feminine form that hid the powerful muscles that allowed her to protect them from those who wanted to harm them and also kept him warm on cold nights, and the tear-drop-shaped mark on her cheek that sometimes seemed to move like a drop of water. But all of these traits were gone with her, taken from him four years tomorrow on his hatch-day, and he felt a lump grow in his throat. In the blink of an eye, though, he found himself looking at Pyra once more.

"Okay," he said finally, looking the to-be Fire Guardian in the eye, "But not until after you pass your test."

"Deal," she responded, giving him a playful smirk as she stood up, "C'mon, the party was winding down when I left to come find you so I'm sure that Cyril and Cynder are probably getting ready for my test right about now."

He stood up as well, nodding, before the two of them left the library. As they were leaving, neither dragon noticed the faint glow that surrounded the book inside the glass case before it slowly faded out of sight.

X

When Aesir and Pyra arrived back in the room where the party had been held, the few guests left were already on their way out the door. This left only Aesir, Pyra, Cyril and Cynder who were discussing something out of earshot, a red dragoness that could only be Pyra's mother due to the close resemblance, and Tremor. This seemed to give Pyra's earlier statement more of a foothold in fact, but it also reminded him of something. He also had to pass his own test to actually attend classes at the Temple, when was he going to do it? Before he had long to ponder it, however, the Ice Guardian and onyx dragoness noticed the two of them and began making their way over to them.

"It is time for your final test," Cyril stated once he and Cynder reached them, "and, after much deliberation on the rather unique circumstances we have before us, we have chosen the appropriate test."

Both Aesir and Pyra exchanged confused looks before the fire dragoness responded, "What is my test, exactly?"

"You've already shown that you possess many traits that a successful Guardian needs," the ice dragon explained, "Mastery over your element, knowledge in the history of the dragon race and the history of your element, and several others have been tested and you have passed them all with flying colors. But a Guardian is more that just a powerful fighter or a well-read dragon; a Guardian is, above all else, a teacher to aid each generation of dragons go on to better the Realms."

"Your test is to help Aesir pass his own," Cynder said simply, causing the two to look at the older dragons in shock. However, she continued, unbothered, "And his test is to find the exit to the maze."

"What ma-?" he started to say before Cynder's eyes and the markings on her head flashed a bright white for a moment and Aesir and Pyra collapsed to the floor, both in a deep sleep.

X

**And there you have it, I decided to merge their tests into one single one, really, for various reasons that you will find out in the next chapter. Also, the rest of the main gang at the Temple will be announced next chapter as well, with the one who correctly guesses the 'mysterious dragoness's' name getting to place an OC in it. And to those who haven't figured out who Annabelle's parents are, really? It's not that blaringly obvious? Should I just have someone hold up a giant sign with their names, or what?**


	5. Chapter 4

So, Chapter Four is here, and I got a review asking about Spyro, and I realized that I hadn't actually given him a scene yet. So, this chapter starts off with him. Anyway, since I've gotten no guesses…AT ALL…the challenge is over and no one wins. And this chapter you learn the name of the mysterious dragoness…

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted things I use, I do however own my OCs and this story.

X

Chapter 4

Spyro watched as his class slowly poured into the training room, a grin on his face as the students filled up the stands that had been added during the Temple's reconstruction.

'So much has changed,' he mused to himself, his eyes gliding over the dragons and dragonesses, many of whom were laughing and chatting excitedly, 'but some things never do.'

He chuckled at the looks that some of the dragonesses gave him, despite his being almost two decades older their senior as we as being taken already didn't detract from his 'air of attractiveness,' as Cynder called it. He couldn't blame them after all, as he'd certainly only gotten better looking through the years.

He'd grown to the height of his former mentor, Ignitus, and could almost chuckle at the thought of how the old Fire Guardian and his colleagues used to dwarf him in size. His scales still shone with the purple hue that made him easy to pick out of any crowd, though here and there he bore scars from the war and they only seemed to add to his notability. He'd grown another, smaller set of horns below the two he already had that were the same golden color as the larger ones as well as his underbelly as well as a single one that almost resembled a beard with the way it was placed on his chin. And even though he wasn't surrounded by constant danger anymore, Spyro still trained to keep his skills and body in good shape and the effort certainly showed.

Once all of his students had taken their seats, he couldn't help but be amazed at the number of students he had to teach. The class was actually both Basic and Advanced Combat classes, meaning that the bleachers were nigh full. Quickly getting over this, though, he shouted over them, "Alright, everyone, quiet down!"

Almost immediately, all conversation died and the purple dragon spoke again, only as loud as was necessary for everyone to hear him, "Good. Now, as you've all been told, I will be filling in for Terrador until he is finished with the preparations for the new Fire Guardian. Meaning both Basic and Advanced Combat classes will be taught together instead of separate until further notice. So, what will be taught today is continuing-"

Spyro paused as he noticed the door to the training room slowly opening. The entire class followed his gaze to watch the door open to reveal none other than Annie and Azure standing there. As they walked into the room, heading toward the calm-faced purple, all was silent save for the sounds of breathing and their paws hitting the ground as they walked.

When they came to a stop, Annie looked up at the older drake and said, "Sorry we're late, Dad."

"It's my fault, Master Spyro, I slept in and forgot to wake Annabelle up," Azure said quickly, his words causing whispers and giggles to break out in the stands. The purple raised an eye ridge at this and almost immediately the two adolescent dragons reddened at the realization of what it sounded like. Hurriedly trying to clarify his statement, the blue male said, "I mean, because you have to teach Master Terrador's Advanced Combat classes, Annabelle needed someone to wake her up in time for class, so-"

"That's enough, Azure," Spyro said amusedly, a wry grin on his face, "Since the two of you are late, disregarding the reason why, you may as well assist in my demonstration for today's lesson. Place your bags down and proceed to the sparring circle in the center, if you would."

The two drakes did as they were told and placed their bags down at their teacher's feet before walking over to the circle. Once there, they each went to one side of the circle and glanced nervously at each other before turning to look at Spyro. By this time, all was quiet once again.

"As I was saying, what I will be continuing is a lesson from Basic Combat so it will most likely be review for those in Advanced: Elemental Redirection," he said, beginning to pace slowly in front of the class, "Elemental Redirection is both an offensive as well as a defensive maneuver, making it a vital skill for all to learn. Can anyone tell me how this can be applied in a combat situation?"

Almost immediately most of the class's paws shot up, desperate to gain the attention of their teacher. After a moment of consideration, Spyro motioned to a dragoness sitting near the front, saying, "You, Fera, right?"

"Yes, Master Spyro," the crimson-red female responded, nodding, "Elemental Redirection can be used to either deflect or send back a physical Elemental attack, such as a stone or a fireball. It can also be used to change the direction or your own physical Element."

"Correct, very good, Fera," the purple commended, causing the female to beam at the praise, "Now, your classmates Azure and Annabelle will demonstrate the defensive aspect as I launch various Elemental attacks their way."

And then, without any other warning, Spyro spun around and launched two large fireballs at the two students. Reacting quickly, they both turned to face the oncoming attacks, falling into defensive stances. As soon as the fireballs were close enough, they acted. Annie used her tail like a bat and spun, sending the attack to the side while Azure leaped into the air and used his own tail to knock the fireball down onto the spot he'd been standing in moments before.

Not giving them time to recover, Spyro then launched balls of stone and electicity at them. Azure used his paw to knock the stone over to Annie, who then used her tail to send it flying into the ball of electricity and both were obliterated.

And then, Spyro shot a giant ball of ice at the two. Moving in unison, the two ran at the frozen projectile and leaped, striking the ball with their tails and sending it off to the side, only to find a smaller stone that was behind it hurtling toward them. They couldn't get out of the way fast enough and were hit by the boulder, sending them back to hit the ground hard, rolling a bit before they stopped.

As they groaned, Spyro made his way over to the two. He came to a stop when he reached them, examining them for any serious wounds. Finding only superficial scratches and injured prides, he chuckled.

"You two handle yourselves well in a team, but you forgot to discern from distraction and actual attack at the end. That can be a fatal error, both in training and in actual combat," the purple told them, his eyes shifting between the two of them.

"I thought we were just demonstrating, not having an actual training session," Annabelle complained, getting to her paws slowly.

At this, her father chuckled again before he said, "Maybe next time you won't be late. Go get your things and have a seat, up front if it's not too difficult; I might use the two of you for more demonstrations."

Annie and Azure could only groan more at the thought before they did as they were told.

X

When Pyra opened her eyes, she found herself standing in front of a door with the number 1 stamped on it. She looked around and saw she was alone and there was no other way out. She couldn't even find the source of the light that illuminated the room.

"This is certainly odd," she quietly mused to herself, "Better find Aesir quickly."

As she began to walk over to the door, she noticed that she was moving in slow-motion. Frowning, she looked down at her paws and saw strange shackles that were glowing with a white light around her ankles. She brought her left forepaw up so she could get a closer look at it and noticed there were symbols for the Elements engraved into it, some of which she was unfamiliar with.

"Even more odd," she said, putting her paw back down. She thought for a moment before managing to realize that this was a mental test so she could move as fast as she believed she could. When she took a step this time, she moved at normal speed.

Letting out a sigh o relief, she continued on to the door. When she reached it, she made to open it with her paw, a strange feeling of unease settling in her gut when it made contact. When she opened it she only saw a murky blackness. And in the middle of it, a pair of eyes watched her.

"Aesir? Is that yo-?" she was cut off as her eyes rolled up into her head the moment she crossed the threshold, a memory that didn't belong to her clouding her vision.

X

_Aesir felt empty as he looked at the burning warehouse. He could see the broken window that he'd been thrown out of to escape the spreading blaze. Inside, the dragoness who saved him six years ago, had given him a name and an identity, the dragoness he'd fallen in love with, she was dying._

_Bero and his thugs had grown tired of the two of them not bending over to kiss their asses and even go out of their way to cause trouble for them and had finally decided to end them once and for all. They had attacked them at the place they'd called home and set it ablaze while Bero and several others went in to subdue them until it was too late for the two of them to escape. But, **she** had figured this out and threw him out of the closest window and into the street._

_It'd hurt and a shard of glass had pierced his shoulder before he pulled it out. He'd been about to run into the building when the room he'd been in just moments before suddenly erupted in a ball of fire. It was then that he'd felt all emotion drain from him and he fell back onto his haunches._

_From behind him he heard a malicious voice say, "Looks like you're all alone again, runt. No one to keep you safe, anymore."_

_Aesir looked over his bleeding shoulder with empty eyes to see a red dragon with bone-white markings on his forelegs and under his eyes walking toward him._

"_Bero wanted to kill you and your little friend by himself, but I'm sure he'll get over it if I say you attacked me first," the dragon said, grinning evilly as he stalked toward the smaller drake. Aesir simply turned away and continued to watch the building burn. Slightly irritated by this, the red drake spoke again, "Don't ignore me you little shit! I'm going to rip you apart and make you suffer!"_

_Aesir paid him no mind as he desperately hoped to see any sign of the blue scales of the dragoness in the blaze. But he knew it was pointless, she was gone and it reminded him of the promise they made to each other._

"_If something happens to one of us," he whispered, looking down at his paws, "the one still living will live for both of us."_

_When the red drake leaped at Aesir to attack the smaller dragon, the silver spun around faster than the red could react. Aesir's claws went through the red's throat like butter and the older dragon hit the ground hard, gurgling and choking on his own blood. Aesir looked down at the dragon dying by his own paw, his face emotionless as tears started to trail down his face. He heard a loud crash of thunder and turned his watery gaze to the sky to see droplets of rain beginning to fall._

"_I'll live for you, Talea," he whispered, his voice shaking, "And I hope you'll be able to forgive me for what I do until I see you again. I…I love you, Talea, and I always will."_

_As he finished speaking, he looked back to the red dragon bleeding out at his feet. The blood had spread to Aesir's forepaws, coating the bottoms of them as well as the tips of his claws in more of the red liquid. With a single movement, the silver took his bloody paw and crushed the older drake's skull under foot, blood and bone and brain matter splattering his form._

_Without a word, he pulled his paw from the gory mess and walked away, his tail dragging on the ground. He didn't worry about the trail of blood he was leaving as the rain would wash it away, and he didn't look back at the burning building that had once been a home and had become a grave._

X

Pyra gasped as she was pulled out of the vision. She felt weak and had tears trailing down her face from the overwhelming emotions the vision had brought on.

"What…was that?" she wondered aloud, breathless and shaky.

"That was the day Aesir ceased to be a child," a female voice said quietly, her tone full of remorse.

"Who said that?" the red female demanded, trying to get herself under control as she searched for the origin of the voice. The pair of eyes that had been watching her slowly moved out of the shadows, revealing the dragoness they belonged to.

"My name is Aethrea," she said, coming to a stop just in front of the to-be Fire Guardian, "and I have come to see that you and Aesir pass your tests and gain entrance to the Dragon Temple."

"Why? What do you have to gain from helping us?" Pyra questioned cautiously.

"To see that you no longer witness anymore of his memories, for they are not for you to know unless he wishes you to," the silver answered, her blue eyes full of pain, "And should he gain entrance to the Temple, he will be safe until it is time for him to confront his destiny."

"'Destiny'?" Pyra echoed, confused and intrigued, "What do you know about his destiny?"

"I have said enough already," she said quietly, turning around, "Follow me, I shall take you to Aesir."

The silver dragoness started to walk and the red female warily followed. There was one question that the fire dragoness had as she followed her strange guide. Was this 'Aethrea' part of Aesir's mind…or something else entirely?


End file.
